Credit Suisse 2nd executive was followed by private detectives

An extraordinary corporate espionage scandal has deepened at Credit Suisse after the Swiss bank admitted a second executive had been tracked by private detectives.

The bank has confirmed that its former head of human resources Peter Goerke was followed for "several days" in February this year by private detectives hired on behalf of the bank. This follows the revelation that Iqbal Khan, the former head of the bank's wealth management division, had been chased by investigators through the streets of Zurich in September.

Credit Suisse insisted at the time that the Khan incident was a one-off and that its chief executive, Tidjane Thiam, had no knowledge of it. However, on Monday it confirmed the second case involving Goerke and once again cleared Thiam of any responsibility.

It is understood that the surveillance of Goerke was conducted after he was told he was being bumped off the executive team and demoted to a senior adviser role, which he still holds.

The former chief operating officer Pierre-Olivier Bouée has been blamed by the bank for both incidents. He resigned in October after the Khan incident was uncovered.

Khan was trailed for several days in September, shortly after he left the bank for a rival position at UBS. Relations had reportedly soured with Thiam, culminating in a dispute over landscaping at their neighbouring properties on Lake Zurich.

Private detectives followed Khan through the streets of Zurich, resulting in an erratic car chase and eventual confrontation. A private security consultant who had helped Bouée organise the spying reportedly took his own life after the incident.

Bouée is understood to have still been receiving some deferred salary payments from Credit Suisse. The bank has taken the additional step of terminating his contract, which will end any payments.

The bank launched its own investigation into Goerke's case following media reports. It has concluded that there was no evidence that Thiam or other members of the board or executive team had any knowledge that Goerke was followed "until media reported it".

Urs Rohner, the chairman of the board of directors at Credit Suisse, said: "The observation of Peter Goerke, which has now been confirmed, is inexcusable. It is of grave concern that the responsible individuals failed to answer truthfully about this observation during the external investigation in September 2019.